Thursday 5 March 2009

baffled !! - NSFW!!!

I wondered whether my previous posts had been a bit over the top - exaggerating something that is not really happening. Then, today, I typed "labia" into google and found this site - within the first five hits - it is from a cosmetic surgeon.

My question is: can anybody tell me what was wrong with the vulvas before surgery? I just cannot see it. But I am a man so may be missing something. Please tell me if I am, because - as I said- I just cannot see it.

4 comments:

Livia Indica said...

I've been concerned about this lately too. Within the greater body modification culture there is a small subset of women who go in for this...by folks who have little or no medical training, are not licensed and use no medication. There's been several instances of people being arrested for assault for doing these and similar procedures for paying customers. And labia reduction/removal isn't all, there's female nullfication, penis splitting, penis inversion, etc. Check out http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Category:Extreme_Modifications to find some of the more disturbing, and not universally accepted, forms of body mod.

Personally, while I think people should be free to do what they want with their bodies I tend to think that removing parts of one's genitals might just fall into the category of sick and should only be done under the most carefully controlled circumstances, if at all.

Idris said...

I am not sure whether to thank you for the link or not, Livia:-) Some of the photographs made me feel distinctly queasy!

People are certainly very strange and wonderful in their variety. I agree with you that they have the right to modify their bodies in whatever way they choose - provided that choice is free and informed. Perhaps the more extreme should be controlled - but I do not like the implications of that - it is a slippery slope...

L Crow Mitchell said...

Freedom of choice is my first rule, and I will always support that freedom, no matter what I think of the choice another might make.

That said, it is the meme that disturbs me. The message that goes with most cosmetic surgery- "You're not enough, not okay as you are. But we can fix you, make you bustier, slimmer, more acceptable."

I reject the lie that women should conform to a physical norm. Or men, for that matter. I find the after photos for the labioplasty to be minimized expressions of the natural fecundity that is the divine feminine.

The before photos look like precious blossoms, full and rich, and the after are slimmed down, as if the joyful sensitivity of those parts were less important than ease of access for the male thrust.

(And I'm not even going to click on the extreme link...)

Thanks, Brian, for putting light on this voluntary version of mutilation.

Idris said...

"ease of access for the male thrust" - a lovely and so apt phrase! Thanks Crow, I wlll probably steal it and use it in the future!